Readers of the editorial page staple, "The past 100 years," will have noticed recent items concerning St. Elizabeth Shelter from 1986 — the year of its founding 25 years ago. Then, neighbors around Alarid Street loudly voiced opposition to the shelter's proposed location, blocking its opening and prompting the City Council to resort to an emergency proclamation to use a building on Don Gaspar Avenue as a shelter. Eventually, the shelter did become anchored on Alarid Street. There, for 25 years, the shelter, its staff and thousands of volunteers have helped the homeless of the city not only find a hot meal and a bed for the night, but the opportunity to leave such a life behind.

It's a shelter, to be sure, but more essentially, St. Elizabeth provides the needy a path to find their way back to work, to permanent housing and to the creature comforts that so many of us take for granted. The first shelter, now the men's emergency shelter, remains on Alarid Street, but St. Elizabeth now operates shelters to house families and women. Other programs support transitional housing for seniors, families and people with disabilities. The Resource Center — now at the Interfaith Shelter on Cerrillos Road — offers meals, clothing and other services, including help for the mentally ill. There's even a program, funded with a $25,000 grant from Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, to help care for the sick homeless who otherwise might have to remain in the hospital.

The path to service was not always easy — just look at the founding of the shelter and the controversy it caused. Today, nearby residents again are upset at having transients in their neighborhood. Shelter officials, listening to complaints, moved the Resource Center's operations to a less-residential location. That move should ease tensions somewhat since the 200 people who showed up twice a week for lunch and other help are no longer in the neighborhood.

With the City Council scheduled to designate Thursday as St. Elizabeth Shelter Day in Santa Fe, we wanted to bring attention to the good work the shelter has done and continues to do in our city. Right now, a big need at St. Elizabeth is matching a $75,000 challenge grant before the end of the year — donations toward that end will be especially welcome. There also remains the seasonal task of adding joy over the Christmas holiday to men, women and families of our community who have fallen through our society's inadequate safety net. Then, of course, come 2012, there will be new challenges ahead as St. Elizabeth continues to help the homeless find shelter, not just for a night, but over a lifetime.